


Datuki's Vengeance

by crandom41



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28175889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crandom41/pseuds/crandom41
Summary: The Ardmori are a shattered species. Driven back to their last mountain strongholds; gripped by stagnation and surrounded by enemies. Can Datuki stop the stagnation, break the Ardmori dark age, and fight back the enemies on the continent?This is a story that I've been working on for quite a while. Its central focus is my custom species The Ardmori, their trials, and the trials of Datuki - their would-be savior.Feedback is appreciated :)





	Datuki's Vengeance

Chapter 1: Grown from the Poison Tree.

Ardikozi – The Ardmori Kingdom  
Sixth Kitatu, year 235.

“… And on the matter of treason, murder, and attempt to overthrow the government, this tribunal finds you and your associates guilty. You are sentenced to exile with no possibility of return, effective immediately.”  
The expected result. Even if I had gotten the luxury of a real court, the result would have been similar. Though, due to my background in the military, I instead got a military tribunal. The only good to come of this trial was the publicity from the speech I gave. 

But, how did we get here? No – not with an exile conviction; how did the Ardmori as a species get to where we are today? Well, we’ve fallen far from our grace. Two Empires preceded our comparatively tiny Kingdom which we inhabited, colloquially, the Old Empire and the New Empire. 

The New Empire was born out of the fires of the Old. It was a monarchy, significantly more centralized than the state that came before it. In those days we were a fairly pacifistic people, we had little in the way of a standing army, just enough to keep the tribalists at the far borders at bay.

We met friends during the time of the New Empire, the Gryphosians began trading with us, and we allowed them to build a city of their own on one of the islands we hadn’t used. To our south though, lie the dormant killer that was known as Kevar-Sallosia. THEY are the reason we are where we are, a rump state locked in a perpetual dark age.

At the tail end of the New Empire, Kevar-Sallosia launched a massive attack on our nation. It’s a miracle we had enough sense to guard our shared border, but that didn’t matter much. We were so heavily outnumbered, it was by bravery, and Kevar-Sallosian incompetence that we held.

Over the next 30 long years we built our army up to parity. New fronts opened up along the Kin River, and the Adamantine Citadel found its glory during this time. It all came crashing down with a well coordinated deep strike from both sides. We bypassed the main fronts and ravaged eachothers vital centers.

Both our nations were destroyed utterly, Kevar-Sallosians fled on their ships to the mainland, and we retreated into our mountain stronghold. That was the end of the New Empire, and the start of the dark age – the Sixth Kitatu, or Sixth Age. Famine and stagnation has been the norm ever since.

During me and my friends’ time in prison, we had a lot of time to think and lament on what we tried to do, why we failed, and what we can do differently. I realized I was quite hubristic to believe I could singlehandedly bring such a large and ancient kingdom out of a dark age in one fell swoop.

I had spent a year before hand gathering connections within the government. None were willing to help me, though they kept their mouths shut. I guess that’s what you would expect out of a corrupt bureaucracy. Due to this, the original plan with my friends was to simply overwhelm the local guards of the palace.

We succeeded, funnily enough. We worked our way right up to the throne room doors, but… They were barricaded shut. When the local garrison showed up, it was all over.

I learned a lot from that experience. Despite my military training, I was too ambitious with my goals, and not methodical enough with my planning to have succeeded. I hadn’t even considered their barricade, nor had I considered that the military wasn’t loyal to us anyways. Even among my own units, they were only loyal to themselves; taking orders as part of their duty to the country only…

Even had we killed the king, the garrison would have deposed us quicker than we could even imagine. The loss was shattering to us, no doubt. We spent the first few weeks in prison with no clues on how to move on, but… Maybe by the grace of the Sky Father my strength was renewed and I developed a better long term plan with my friends.

Though we failed, none of us regretted what we tried to do. The only regrets we had are those we lost in our valiant attempt to take the government as quickly as possible, and those Ardmori we had to kill to get there. I knew a few of the dead quite personally. We all knew the risks, but, much in value and talent was lost. I’d have to be more careful about that in the future. No final words were exchanged between any of us in the court room before the multitude of guards came to chauffeur us out. 

A short walk outside the ancient stone building before we were flown over to the edge of the country, a well known spot to the west where exiles were dropped off. I in particular had noticed that at least a few people had joined our flight… Before long we arrived at the border, a long valley with a fairly large stream leading to the plains below, where the tribalists lived. This was effectively no-mans-land. As was standard, the guards gave us knives so we could stay somewhat alive out here, though, annoyingly, no extras for the ones who had joined our flight. 

In total, 8 of us would leave the country. 5 close companions, and 3 newcomers who were very dedicated to my cause. I wouldn’t know what they could bring to the table yet, but I suspected they would be quite worthy additions as well. The guards ordered us out, and so we went. They would keep the area posted so we didn’t try any funny business, we had no desire to anyways. We had other plans at this point.

So for at least a couple days, it was basic survival. During the time of the trial, I had a lot of time to think about what my next steps were. I made those no secret to my group.  
“Let us find a spot in the foothills to hunker down for a day or two.” I started. “Then, I think we will need to take a risk. We should take over one of the plains tribes, make sure we leave as many alive as we can.” and I left it at that for now. One thing at a time, but keep the goal in mind.

Strangely enough, with this exile, I felt a renewed vigor permeate me much stronger than before. I suppose it was because I was taking a real, genuine step towards doing what I wanted to; disposing of the old so we may sprout anew. Whereas before, I simply wanted to install myself as the leader of the old, to try and break the chains that held it down. That might had worked, but the whole plant was poisoned, it needed to be ripped up and started fresh. The vestiges of our dark age needed to be thrown away.

But for now, it was time to get to work.

Chapter 2: The Fruits of our Labor

Tikaraty (Great Plains) – The Tribal Lands  
Sixth Kitatu, year 235.

“… Sky Father, guide us, Sky Mother, Protect us.  
Give us strength, courage, and endurance to weather our fates with pride and, above all; Save the Ardmori.”

A standard Ardmori prayer to give the most religious among us a morale boost. Almost like the Sky Mother and Father themselves reached down to give them exactly what they asked for.  
Our first challenge in this new life we’d chosen was now at hand. 

We’d taken a few days and crafted ourselves some more potent weapons out of sticks, vines, and the knives we were given. They were crude, but hopefully effective. The previous day, I had gone out with my good friend Desiky to scout the nearby tribes. We of course remained as stealthy as we could, we were certain we were not spotted. We had spotted a prime opportunity. A tribe, just bigger than our own group. It was a good stepping stone for the moment, we both agreed. I let everyone know in no uncertain terms what the plan would be.

We would make our move under the light of the mid-day sun. There would be no mistaking our intentions, there would be no deceptions. I had observed and studied the tribalists for a while, as well as read up on the practices of their culture while I was still in the Kingdom. All we would have to do is best their warriors in a battle, including the chief, and we would have them under our control. Their fierce territoriality would mean they’d sally out to meet us as soon as we got even close to their tree.

So we marched. 

“Stay strong now” I said, making sure all of my companions kept their composure. “Remember your training, trust your skills, we’ll all emerge victorious here.” They didn’t respond, but they didn’t need to. I stood at the point of our chevron shaped formation; it was more for intimidation than for tactic. Once we engaged in combat, it would become chaotic anyway.

The tribe in the tree noticed soon enough and organized their warriors hastily to meet us, including the chief himself. Their defense was surprisingly strong, I suppose since this was their entire being, besides the plains surrounding the tree. Even for me, the fight was long and exhausting. I was cut up to some degree, but in the end I found my opening and struck down the chief of the tribe. I made sure that the final blow was well known.

In Tribal Ardmori tradition, he who slays the chief himself becomes the new chief, thus, the battle ended. The warriors, though wary, accepted our victory, and I took stock of our losses. One seriously injured, but maybe fixable. We called up what little medical knowledge we had, and patched our man up, carrying him to our new home for the moment…

Over the next week or so our injured comrade stabilized. His recovery would be lengthy, especially out in the wilderness like this. We took stock of what we had, we had enough food for a couple weeks, a good amount of spare clothes and tools. We had 9 women and kids, 12 men including our group. A good start…

Living like this was rough on us, that much was for sure. Though the tribalists were Ardmori just like us, their style of living was much more primordial than we were used to. Spending much of their time in trees like our longest dead ancestors probably used to do. Sleeping in them was nearly impossibly for the first few weeks.

Over the coming months, our success would be replicated a few times more. We would conquer a new tribe, lock it down, incorporate it into our ‘tribe’… In the end, we were up to 103 total members. Our blitz of the other tribes, however, did gain the attention of equally large tribes, taking more over at this point would be incredibly costly.

Thus, the second phase of my plan was now to begin. Like a seed from a wisp flower, we will migrate as far away from the mother plant as we can before we take root. Maybe in this new land, we will find resources to sustain us, perhaps even surpassing what spawned us.

The migration wasn’t exactly easy. Keeping our people in line at times became difficult. We had a good amount of food, so we doled out rations rather generously. I at times, had to rule with an iron fist to make sure some of the more uppity warriors of the former tribes didn’t get any bright ideas.

It took a solid month, but eventually we reached the Great Lake of the West. Me and my friends all agreed, this was the spot to settle in. We picked a spot along the first river we came across, and christened our new village Kasi Takri – New Life.

To be honest, we had really only just found the road that would take us to our destination. We had spent a while wandering through the trees, but now that we found the road we could finally follow it to our destination. It was time to get to work, once again.

Chapter 3: Mandate from the Earth

Kasi Takri (New Life) – The Lands West  
Sixth Kitatu, year 266

30 long years have passed for this seed to sprout, and here we are now. A city to be sure – one all our own, grown of our sweat and labor. I made sure that it was not one built on shaky foundations or with an ivory tower lain atop. My and the executive committee’s houses were no bigger than the rest. Most every detail was intricately planned out, from the city structure to the fields just north of the main city. 

Sitting atop my roof, looking out over this, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Last count, 10,347 people now lived within the limits of the city. We were starting to edge closer to the status of a city-state, rather than just a city. Slowly, surely, my ultimate goal was being realized.

Anyways. My break was now over. Back to work. I hopped down the ladder back into my house, locking up the roof latch. Back to my desk, to review numbers, statistics, quotas… Whatever needed my attention. What had been quite fortunate is just a few miles away in a hill, some miners had located a rich deposit of one of the ingredients used to make Aesirium. Being it was the most obvious one of them, with its dull blue hue within the rock, it hadn’t been lost to time like the recipe for its alloy had been. The output from that mine was steady, feeding our partially practical and partially experimental forging operation. 

We exported a good amount of food to our somewhat distant neighbor Gryphasia, who’s renewed eternal war with Kevar-Sallosia was straining it greatly. A steady amount of gold is flowing in, partially stockpiled in savings, partially distributed amongst the populace. Partial to placation, but mostly as wages. Most enterprise was managed directly by the executive committee and not owned by anyone else, at least right now.

The military by far in a way was our biggest concern however. We made a very strong point in our education that serving in the military was of utmost importance, and it worked wonders. We wound up with an 85% volunteer rate should we ever need that. We currently decided to have 50% in active service, yielding us a sizable garrison of 5000 some men. Quality was our top priority. With limited numbers, using what we had well was crucial. 

I heard a rapping at my front door, most likely one of the executive committee members.  
“Come in!” I yelled from my desk, the door opened, indeed revealing an executive committee member and good friend Kazily. Kazily had volunteered to take responsibility for the forging operation and the mining operation; I’d heard he was doing a good job.  
“Datuki.” Kazily said, addressing me in a friendly manner.  
“Greeings Kazily…” I would say, leaning back in my chair a little bit. “What’s needed?” I asked.

Kazily had a slight smile on his face “Just your attention.” He would reply, coming over to my desk. He would pull a small bag out of his jacket pocket.

He untied the bag, and poured it out on the desk, out rolled a small handful of dull white, smooth, and shiny rocks. I picked one up, and analyzed it. I admit, I didn’t even recognize what it was.  
“What is this?” I would ask Kazily, looking up at him. He still had a slight smile on his face, which grew once he received the question.  
“Aesirium.” He said simply. It was enough to make my heard skip a beat, my adrenaline to kick up. Without so much as a second thought, I reached into a drawer behind me and grabbed an heirloom. A small piece of ancient broken Aesirium. I took one of his rocks, and the piece of Aesirium from the old days… almost indistinguishable.

“And you’ve tested this?” I asked, a little bit of desperation apparent in my voice. Kazily gave a firm nod. “Yes. Tensile and compression strength was almost exactly the same.” He would reply. This was huge…  
“Call the rest of the committee in. We need to discuss this at once.” I’d say to Kazily, he once again gave an affirmative nod.

Within half an hour, the 7 members of the executive committee were gathered in my house. This was a monumental occasion, no doubt, but it was in no way simple.  
“So, there’s a really good reason why I’ve convened this meeting so urgently. Kazily and his team have made a game-changing discovery. Or, more accurately… Re-discovery.” I tossed the rock out on the table, it rolled to a stop roughly in the middle.  
“It’s Aesirium.” I would say simply “It’s been tested, it’s the real deal.” I added on. The rest of the executive committee members gave some murmurs among themselves, before I drew their attention again.

“This is a delicate situation, however. At the moment, only myself, Kazily, and a few members of his team know the recipe for how to make Aesirium. However… The reason we lost it in the first place was because knowledge of it was kept among a small few.” I gave that a minute to sink in, grabbing the white rock back and playing with it a bit in my talons as I kept talking.  
“But, if we released the recipe widely, we would equalize the playing field with our foes instead of giving ourselves the advantage.” I paused again, tapping the rock against the table a few times before I looked up, seeking their input.  
“What should we do? Release it’s recipe to the world, or keep it secret?” I polled.

They all took a moment to think about it, Kazily was the first to speak up.  
“We’ll need every advantage we can get. Our numbers are few, Aesirium armor at the very least would protect our soldiers and minimize our losses.” Kazily said, rightly so. The ever wise Dariki spoke up next.  
“If we released it to the world, what would we get? A footnote in history about how we rediscovered Aesirium? This isn’t just a simple rediscovery of what was lost, this is a source of legitimacy! The old Kingdom has had 250 years to do what we’ve done in 30.” He said, triggering a small uproar of “Here here”’s from the rest of the committee. He was quite right…

One of the committee members who had been clearly in though since the start, Rakyon, took his turn to speak up.  
“Keeping it cloistered forever to the elites like the Old Empire would harm our species in the long run.” He started, rubbing his beak for a moment.  
“How long would it take until we are a power rivaling Kevar-Sallosia, or Gryphasia? I think once we reach the point we can take them on, we should release the recipe to the world.” I was leaning towards agreement with Rakyon, but there I was still concerned. I spoke back up.

“Well. Why would we give our advantage up then? If we ever went to war with Kevar-Sallosia or Gryphasia, that could quite possibly be the most important moment to have exclusive use of Aesirium.” I think most everyone tended to agree with that, we all looked back at Rakyon for an answer. He spoke fairly wisely in his reply.  
“By that time we would have had roughly 20 or 30 years to fortify and solidify our position. Our armies should be equipped fully with Aesirium armor, weapons; our holds strengthened with it too. If we cannot afford to release the recipe for Aesirium when that time comes, then we have done something severely wrong and we do not deserve it’s mandate.” He said with a surprising conviction. Yet again, this triggered a few “Here here”’s from the table. Rakyon had swayed me, at least. 

“Is there anything else about this we should discuss before we vote?” I asked. Looking around the table. Nobody spoke up.  
“Very well. We have 3 plans then. Release it now, release it never, and release it when we’ve strengthened ourselves fully with it. We’ll start with release it now. All in favor, raise a talon.” The only talon that came up was the lady Kurluon. 1 vote for releasing it now.  
“Alright. 1 to 6 in favor of releasing it now. Now, release it never, raise a talon.” I said next. Not a single Ardmori raised their talon. That was probably for the best…  
“0 to 7 in favor of never releasing it. Finally, Release it when we’ve become strong with it. Raise a talon.” Within just a few seconds, everyone else except Kurluon raised their talons. A very clear, near unanimous showing. Hopefully the dissenting vote didn’t spell negativity for our goals…

“Alright. 6 to 1 in favor of releasing it when the time is right. That is what we shall do then. Kazily, make sure your team keeps this recipe among themselves at all costs. For now, this is our lynch pin.” I said, Kazily giving a firm nod in reply. I couldn’t help but smile as I picked up the new piece of Aesirium and spoke one last time to the executive committee.  
“Once again we’re one step closer to restoring our species… And now, we’ve got our mandate from the earth.”

Chapter 3.5: Cross Pollination

Tulleria – North Sylesia  
Sixth Kitatu, year 267.

The town of Tulleria was now becoming visible through the light fog, I was able to glide gently down before landing around the outskirts. The town looked intact, but not very lively. Guards were positioned outside its minimal defenses. I landed a good distance from them, approaching on foot.  
“Datuki. I am here to meet with Harykon.” I would say simply. I was guided down to what looked to be the town hall of the place, escorted inside, into a backroom.

The guards stood wait behind me, whom I was here to see, Harykon, was sitting at a table, inviting me to sit down as well. Compared to an Ardmori, he and his guards were very short.  
“Datuki I presume, nice to meet you.” The Sylesian said rather softly, motioning to the seat across from him.  
“Nice to meet you as well.” I would say back, being cordial with him as I sat down. We got right to business.

“So you’ve taken an interest in hiring some mercenaries.” He said, getting the conversation started.  
“Yes, you’re correct. We need to bolster our numbers.” I replied fairly plainly, Harykon would give a slight nod.  
“I admit, I don’t follow events in Ardmoria as closely as maybe I should, but I can’t imagine you’re acting on behalf of The Kingdom.” Harykon noted. I did wonder where this was going, so I tilted my head slightly. “Just wanting to make sure you can pay me is all.” He finished, not continuing the mystery.

I had figured something like this would come up. I had brought along a small bag of gold for this exact reason. I pulled it out and set it on the table, pushing it over to Harykon. He of course opened it, and examined the coins. Suitably impressed… I would explain our position.  
“Even if you’re not following our events that closely, I’m sure you’ve noticed the Eternal War between Gryphasia and Kevar-Sallosia. We’ve made our fortune exporting food to Gryphasia.” Harykon gave a suitably impressed nod, and sat back in his chair a little bit.

Harykon cracked a slight smile. “I’ll admit Datuki, I know more about you than anything else. I know you have a solid, formal military training and years of experience in applying it. The arrangement I’m looking for extends beyond a simple need or want for gold.” He would say, I tilted my head back to the other side, suitably interested to say the least. “Go on.” I said simply.  
“I’m looking for you to give my mercenary unit the best training you possibly could give them, and infact, the best training you can give me as well.” I was a bit taken aback by the suggestion admittedly, not that I was at all opposed.  
“In exchange?” I’d ask. Some sort of kickback was needed if he wanted those kinds of services.

“Half off the yearly cost of our band.” Harykon would reply. I gave a small nod, and Harykon continued. “I’m sure you’d probably be looking more for one third the yearly cost, but, at some point you’re going to send us into battle I assume, you wont be training us forever.” He would finish. That did make sense. With the rough plan I had in my head, half did seem reasonable for the timeframe…  
“Alright. Half off the yearly cost, and I’ll train you and your men.” I stood up, extending my talon for Harykon. He would grasp my talon, and give it a firm shake.

I released his paw, and spoke one last time.“I will get final approval from my team, and let you know if we’re taking on your services.” 

Chapter 4: Dispersing our Seeds

Kasi Takri (New Life) – The Lands West  
Sixth Kitatu, year 267. Executive Committee meeting 324.

We had gathered for a meeting about our next move. We would need to plan it well, I of course had the groundwork.  
“I have three phases set out here….

Phase one. Preparation.  
The groundwork must be in place to ensure that we can execute the rest of this plan successfully. Our home front is already secured, there is little to no instability and the economy is prosperous. Army equipment is being pumped out, increased and improved every day. Aesirium continues to approach our standard issue weapon and armor, that should only continue to improve.

Where we need to work on the most is training and discipline. My formal army training should help here, combined with experience. I should be able to weed out what lacked in the Ardmori way, and leave only what works. On top of training our regular army, I would like to train two units of elite shock troops that tactically will be the breakthrough units of our army, and a morally devastating one at that. I’d like them to have specially created Aesirium armor – made to look as intimidating as possible.

In planning for the worst, I would like to also recruit some mercenary units to bolster our numbers. I would keep their service for a while, their integration with our army should be as seamless as possible. I’ve put feelers for this out already, the best candidate I’ve seen so far is a mercenary unit from Sylesia, next best being Aereolea. 

As a pre-requisite to Phase Two, we will also need a good amount of food to feed our troops. Luckily, we have had a food surplus for a very long time. The only thing I would recommend is discontinuing food exports to Gryphasia as to make sure the army absolutely has what food it needs to get the job done comfortably.

So. In order of importance, our objectives for the preparation phase:  
Training  
Equipment  
Elite Units  
Mercenaries

Phase two. The Long March Home.

Once preparation is complete, we will activate The Long March Home. We will gather our food supplies, and march for The Ardmori Kingdom. The Journey should take a total of three weeks, or close to it. Before we enter the territory of the Kingdom, we will be in the Tribalists territory. We will want to pacify a large swathe of tribal land. We need to prove that we are strong enough to control them as the prior empires did, and we also need to clear a path for people to leave more safely – if they so choose. 

The only challenges we will hopefully have with this phase are disease and hunger. I will want to bring many medical personnel along with us to ensure most of the troops stay healthy. This sort of long march should really test the mettle of our troops…

Phase three. A Show of Force.

We have three valleys we will potentially want to enter from, they all lead to the basin town of Sakysta the only thing we will want to do there is reorganize for our march into the capital. Scouting will be of utmost importance here. If word reaches the capital before we get there, a force might be mobilized to head us off at the pass. That can’t happen. We’ll find alternate routes if need be, our goal here isn’t to pick a fight with the Ardmori army; just get to the capital as quickly as possible. If we’re lucky, It’ll take three days to get from Sakysta to the capital.

From there our path branches significantly. If we meet the Ardmori Army in the capital we may have an issue. We will probably have to fight them if we wish to occupy the Capital. Our goal should be to route them as quickly as possible. This means heavy use of our elite forces to break their center as quickly as possible; followed by our conventional troops slicing their army in two in the gap created. 

If we avoid the Ardmori Army, we may only face a small garrison. Our goal then would be to scare the garrison away with the elite forces, avoid much bloodshed. From there, we should be able to take the Capital with the most minimal of resistance. 

I’ll give a speech on the King’s Balcony. I’ll proclaim the legitimacy of our new state. I’ll show them the Aesirium armor and weapons. I’ll show them the pacification of the Tribalists. The mercenaries, a sign of wealth… I’ll advertise settlement in our new land; possibly make some new towns with enough interest… When we leave we’d probably want to do it down the Dekata river valley, and march back along the seaside.”

I paused for a moment now that my plan was fully put out before the Executive Committee. Dariki spoke up first, and wisely so “Well, without a solid preparation phase we cannot hope to fully achieve the other two. You should get everything needed and more.”  
It seemed though nobody on the committee was up for even considering frugality only this particular subject. They all offered a resounding round of ‘here here’s in response to the comment. Dariki continued.  
“I think with some careful monitoring, we have most of what’s required in place already to achieve your preparation phase. My only question is if you think you will need assistance training 5000 some men plus however many elites you plan on training.”

I gave a small nod at the suggestion. It would certainly consume most of my time.  
“I will need someone to deal with most of my executive duties, that is for certain. I am sure this will be a 16 hour a day or more job.” I said. We would arrange the transfer of those responsibilities a little later.

Kazily spoke up next.  
“What about the five?” He asked simply, allowing a brief pause before clarifying “The Five Who Survived, that is. The five city states that survived the fall of the Empire.” Admittedly an interesting topic I hadn’t considered. He continued on, sharing his thoughts. “I imagine we’d want to plan for integrating them into our state in the future. If we could make sure the news of what we did reaches them…” He said, trailing off. I threw in my own thoughts.  
“It is a good idea. I’m sure they wouldn’t consider integrating just after doing that, but maybe we would get some migrants from them as well. They are quite big cities, even still… Any thoughts on how to execute that?” I inquired.

Desiky spoke. “Well, we could send someone to each city now. They would spend the next year or two integrating with those cities, and when the time comes, we can have them tell the story of what we did in the Kingdom’s capital.” I gave a nod, a worthy idea. However, just a few more details would need to be made to ensure its seamless. I spoke up again to add my thoughts “Good, but, we will need to call them all up to the capital. Make sure there was no doubt they were there to watch it.” Desiky for his part gave a nod as well, agreeing with me on that subject.

There was a solid pause as I let everyone think about whether they had anything else they wanted to bring up. None spoke up.  
“So, lets take a vote then. Ratification of all aspects of this plan, in the entirety discussed. All for opposed… raise a talon.” I waited a solid 10 seconds. Not a single talon was raised. I couldn’t help but give a small smile. “And all in favor, raise a talon.” I said. 7 talons almost immediately came up into the air. A completely unanimous vote… Admittedly I had expected some dissent, it seemed at least that the executive committee was on my side.

“Well. Thank you all, I’m surprised the vote was unanimous. One step closer to destiny…”

Sakysta – The Ardmori Kingdom  
Sixth Kitatu, year 269.

My veins had been coursing with adrenaline all day long. The excitement – 2 years of work and toil, a month of buildup in marching across the continent; this was the culmination. The action on the plains, and now here we were in Sakysta with an army of 8000 some men. My two elite units stood just behind me. We had a moment of respite as we waited for our scouts to return – they would be less than 10 minutes, hopefully.

I had a free minute to reflect on the past two years. I had spent the majority of the time training our army, and our mercenary unit under Harykon. We had grown to become quite good friends during that period. He always seemed a little reserved, but that wasn’t an impediment to our working relationship. He was always observing and taking in information, even in times where we weren’t working.

I watched over the course of the first year as our equipment was slowly upgraded, more and more of our army turning into white clad golems of strength and discipline. I worked closely with my unit captains, including my elite units. In fact, it was a few individuals from the elite units that were the ones whom went out to see whether an army was marching to intercept us. Despite this being my former home, the terrain admittedly wasn’t as familiar to me as it was when I actively lived here.

Some minutes later, 3 of the men from my elite unit descended back to the town, landing a few feet in front of me.  
“What did you find?” I asked. Though all of them were breathing heavily, one spoke up.  
“Sir, there is an army marching up the valley to meet us. 20,000 men we estimated. We identified two alternate routes, but, with how narrow they are we believe we should split the army. We’d only be able to walk 2, 3 wide at most.” He finished, continuing to breath heavily. Aesirium armor certainly wasn’t light, they were the only units with the endurance to fly with it on. I gave a nod to them and they marched back to their unit formations.

I let out a screeching, pitch varied caw. My signal to unit captains to meet me. Within just a couple minutes, all the 19 unit captains including Harykon gathered around me so I could discuss the plan for closing the distance to the capital, and the plan for when we actually got there.  
“Alright. Our scouts have found there is an army marching to meet us. They identified two paths avoiding the valley. We will split our army up, one half will take each path. When we get to the capital we’ll regroup. Keep this info quiet too, I don’t want the enemy army to be informed of our plans. Any questions?” I polled, waiting for a few seconds for any to speak up. None did. “Alright. Perfect. Elite unit A, you’re leading the group that heads on the northern path, Elite unit B, southern path. Lets go!” I finished, the unit captains heading back to their respective units.

Within a few minutes, we were organized and headed off. I went with the group that took the northern path. The path was no doubt rather tough. Only maintained by people walking over it, not the sort of path you were meant to have an army march across. However, avoiding a large scale battle with the Ardmori Kingdom’s army was in our best interests, despite the challenges. 

It took the better part of a day of hard marching up steep hills and rough terrain, but our goal was in sight under the light of the waning sun. Our synchronicity was something to be commended too, we could see our other half of the army start to appear from a small patch of forest just a few minutes after ours started to file out.

Seeing as the capital had sent an army to Sakysty to take care of us, the garrison would be mobilizing very soon. I made a quick decision to make sure we wouldn't be the ones caught off guard. I turned to my elite unit captain. “Move to halfway to the other army, quick. I’ll go get the other elite unit, we need to make sure this garrison doesn’t surprise us.” I said. The captain quickly responded with a “Yes sir” before I took off.

I quickly flew across the relatively open field to the other army, and landed near the other unit captain of elite unit B. “Meet me and the other elite unit in the center here, we need to make sure the garrison doesn’t surprise us.” Another prompt “Yes sir” came from the opposing captain before I flew back to roughly the midpoint between them; the entrance of the city.

Down the way I could see the garrison of the city marching towards the gate to meet us and hopefully prevent our entrance, but, both elite units double-timed it and were organized at the gates with speed that I expected of an elite unit. This is what we had prepared almost exactly for, and now, with my adrenaline racing once again we’d be spearheading a fake attack to route them as quick as possible…

“Alright men this is what we’ve prepared for. We’re NOT going to slaughter them but scare them into fleeing! On my mark, fly and strike!” I commanded, my unit getting into the ready position for a flying attack, I waited, making sure the garrison was well within range…

“MARK!” I yelled finally, leaping into the air with a strong pump of the wings, the rest of the unit following shortly behind. Our ascent kicked up a torrent of dust and dirt. We only needed to fly through the air a short distance before we went in for our diving strike; and to add even more to the fear tactic, we let out an ear-piercingly loud united screech. As I looked down, I could see most of unit already starting to break, some running, the front of the line already becoming squiggly.

As we slammed into the ground just in front of their lines, most of them broke instantly. The bravest among them ran too once our line reformed properly into a strong spearhead, and what little battle there was ended without bloodshed, just as I had hoped.

Looking back towards the city entrance, I saw that the army had regrouped just outside the city gates, conveniently. We would march together for the final leg, and giving them a call got them filing into the wide city streets one unit at a time. Once they met up with the elite units, we marched as one army once again.

The civilians of the capital had obviously noticed the commotion, and many began watching from the sidelines and from their windows as our army marched through the streets of the capital, adorned in our Aesirium armor… Despite my time away, I did remember the capital like the back of my hand, having lived there for 25 years prior…

Our march took only 15 minutes before we reached the palace building, as planned, my army moved to position just in front of the balcony outside the king’s quarters. That was where I would be giving my speech… And as hoped, a large crowd was gathering to bear witness to this triumph. Me and my elite units entered the palace, receiving no opposition, the king having been evacuated to safety…

So up I went, up the many stairs until I had reached the king’s quarters. Heading straight to the balcony… I marched right up to the ancient Aesirium railing, removed my helmet and looked out over the now significant crowd that had gathered… It was time to talk.

“My fellow Ardmori!” I yelled, attracting the crowds attention to me. Slowly, the murmuring quieted down, and all eyes in the crowd were affixed to the balcony – to me.

Chapter 5: Sprout and Take Root.

“My name is Datuki Zaruzikiy. Some of you may remember me, I was exiled many years ago… Firstly, let me say right now that I am not here to conquer, though it may seem like it. You’ll note that the armor of my soldiers is pearly white with not a drop of Ardmori blood split on it. This is because I’m here simply as a messenger, not as a conqueror.

My message is simple, with 3 main points, but paradigm shifting I’m sure you’ll come to agree. Point one – We have a competent army. Ever since the Eternal War swept the New Empire, our need for a professional army has been crystal clear. I present to you the first truly professional Ardmori army, with the tactical prowess to completely out-maneuver this Kingdom’s own army. Some of you may have noticed our elite core completely route the garrison here: this is a unit never before displayed in an Ardmori Army, but is a feature of the most professional armies of the world beyond our shores. With it, we’ll be able to withstand the threats against our homeland for generations to come.

Point two – The Tribalists. For the last 200 some years this Kingdom has been hemmed in by the aggressive Tribal Ardmori that the previous Empires had under control. Take just a moment to think about how we got here… Our new state doesn’t border the Kingdom. We blazed a path through the Tribal ring and pacified as we went. You’ll find that the ring has been cut, and we’ll cut a wider swathe on our way back to our home. You’ll find that if you venture out to the west, the way will be clear of the danger the Tribalists pose.

Point three – Aesirium. The Kingdom has had 250 years to recover the recipe for Aesirium. Instead, the forges have sat silent, unused, and rotting away. No longer. We’ve accomplished what this stagnant and inflexible Kingdom failed to do and not only rediscovered Aesirium, but equipped our whole army with it too. Yes, what you see my men wearing is Aesirium. We’ve even brought along samples for you to examine and see for yourselves.

Knowing all this, you all should be doubtless as to which nation is forging a path into the future for the Ardmori people – it is us. Make no mistake, this is beginning of the end for the Ardmori dark age. I implore you: come join us in building our new nation and making the Ardmori stronger than we were before.”

A brief pause.

“Those of you who wish to join us, follow our army. We will provide you with food, water, and shelter for the march to your new home.”

And with that, I left the balcony and headed back down. Well choreographed as we were, my soliders tossed out small bags of Aesirium chunks for the Kingdom and the locals to examine as I walked back to rejoin the elite units. With that, we began our march down the river valley and towards the sea – we would be home before long.

As we walked, my soldiers brought forth the numbers of people that had joined us. It was higher than we estimated but lower than we had hoped. Some 500 Ardmori souls traveled with our army. Regardless of how many traveled with us now though, we hoped we had planted the seed in the minds of Ardmori to move to our new land over time, and our message would be relayed back to The Five Who Survived as well.

Our Journey home was easy and uneventful, the minor risk we incurred leaving our new land without an army to guard it payed off and we returned to exactly what we left behind, with some new friends of course.

We had built some houses in anticipation of new settlers arriving, but certainly not enough to house everyone. We divided people up into groups. Those who would like to settle here, and those who would like to settle lands and form new towns. Just over a third were willing to do that. 

Within half a day or so we got word from our informants in the Old Kingdom’s capital that the government was in almost a state of chaos. The speech I had made combined with the fact that an enemy army had basically seized the country had the country broiling with unrest. The effect on The Five Who Survived had yet to be seen.

It was doubtful that the Old Kingdom would respond in any meaningful way, and this unrest would simply add to the long list of paralyzing issues the country was facing. Of course, monitoring the situation closely was close to my top priority.

For now though, since the show was over, it was back to the task of building the country. We had new towns to settle, after all.

Chapter 6: Firestorm.

“When the Sky Mother and Sky Father still roamed the earth of old, times seemed more secure. Our trees grew tall, our crops plentiful, and the rivers flowed full. With great hubris we moved out, watched the Great Forest of the South yield to the plains of the North; and the land finally yield to the sea. 

Though times seemed more secure it mattered little when the bone-faced devils came to be. How little we fought, ‘we have gods here’ we thought. A firestorm engulfed all of what we had in the south, and left those in the north in need. Do take care to remember, gods among people are just people too...”  
__________________________________________________________________________

6 months later...

Kasi Takri (New Life) – The Lands West  
Sixth Kitatu, year 270. 

A sharp pounding on my front door echoed out and jolted me from my sleep. Just barely audible beyond the walls was an absolute load of frenzied yells and conversation. It took but a few seconds to realize something was wrong. The pounding came again, followed by the voice of one of my friends. 

“Datuki wake up! We’re under attack!” was all I heard, that sent a wave of fear over me. Lot of unknowns flooded through my head, but I reacted quickly. I immediately started to dawn my armor, while calling back to him for some info.

“Who?! Has the army engaged them?!” I called back as I fitted on my chestpeice, helmet, and everything in record time. “No clue! The army is fighting right now, the town is safe but the fighting is close!” 

I was outside within seconds. I could tell pretty quickly how close the fighting was, some of the outlying farm houses had already been torched. However, this wasn't a full on army, just a raiding party. Thank the Sky Father for that, but there was still work to do. Once I had linked up, my good captain filled me in on the situation. Now that I was in command, I took charge of my elite unit right away.

We went in for a decisive blow, and achieved a route almost immediately. In my rage, I followed the blow up by slaughtering the fleeing raiding party. I was having no mercy on them. Though, I purposefully left some alive so they could report back to their command on what had happened. I knew right away, they were Sallosians...

Retribution was off the table. For now at least. Our position was too vulnerable to incur the full wrath of Sallosia, though, in due time that would come... After I assessed the damage, I sent scouts to our outlying settlements to make sure they were alright. I spent the rest of the night helping my soldiers clean up bodies, tending to the wounded, and accommodating those displaced...

I went with my scouts out to our southern-most settlement in the plains, we had predicted the Sallosian raiding party would have gone right through there. Situated in a small dip in the terrain, we didn’t see it until we crested the ridge above it. Nothing remained. Smoldering ruins, light amounts of smoke wafted up to be washed away by the wind nearly immediately.

No Ardmori in sight. Me and the scouting party took our time looking through the debris, maybe someone was alive in this; but nobody was. My sadness, but more importantly, my anger… Indescribable. I had nothing to even take it out on, save for kicking some charred wood. It felt like a failure on my part, but I knew it was simply a travesty and a crime by the Sallosians.

I couldn’t shake the feeling of having a pit in my stomach for the entirety of the journey back to Kasi Takri. It was late afternoon by the time we got back. When I did get back, the executive council was waiting for me. I reported to them what I saw; the smoke, ash, and death that surely followed. Their mood turned as sour as mine was. But what they told me next came as a great interest… a Gryphasian had showed up during the afternoon, they said he came with a message.

Despite our loss we decided to hold a meeting and welcome this Gryphasian into Kasi Takri with open arms. Though, our arms were too open, as it would seem.  
"Greetings Datuki, and other members of the council... My name is Aluskeetch, envoy of the crown of Gryphasia. My message shall be brief..." He started, we listened - carefully.

"The Crown of Gryphasia has noticed the attack that happened on you and your settlements last night. The Crown has found it prudent that Gryphasia's Western flank be protected and our food supply be secured. As such, we've decided to annex your territory into the Crown Territory of Gryphasia." Aluskeetch finished. I was... overcome, and beside myself. I came off the hinges, right there and then.

I stood. My anger should have been crystal clear on my face. My heart pounded in my chest.  
"Have you tried to summarily annex Sallosia as well, Aluskeetch? If only that worked, maybe you wouldn't be AT WAR WITH THEM!" I finished, yelling at the top of my lungs. Though I was nowhere near done.  
"I cannot believe you would bring me, this council, and MY PEOPLE such an ARROGANT and OUTRAGEOUS demand! We are not a simple tyranny to walk over as you please, we are a SOVEREIGN NATION and the rightful claimants to this land!" I continued yelling. My voice was quickly becoming hoarse, but it still was not done...

"I have half a mind to kill you where you stand for bringing me something this ridiculously offensive, but I need you to send a message back to your detestable crown: WE, The ARDMORI, are the rightful holders of this land. Our calamity was not yours to exploit, yet you took our ancestral land out from under us in our DARKEST HOUR with absolute malice! If you wish to annex this land, bring an army. You'll watch it crumble before your king. Except, hold on... You're kind of busy with other things at the moment, aren't you? I bet your crown had hoped that we would just roll over and accept annexation, but know this: We are the Ardmori Resurgent. We will not be slaves to any foreign master, we will fight to the last to see our dream come true." I finished. I gave myself a minute to regain my breath, before I addressed Aluskeech one final time.  
"Report back to your crown, and never enter this land again." Was all i said, before waving him off. the guards escorted him out.

There was no way the meeting could continue after this. The mood was spoiled, and there was more to think about now than there was before. I was left in my house, with my thoughts, and my emotions.

Chapter 7  
From the Ashes we Rise Anew.

2 days later...

I'd spent much of the past two days reflecting. Not just on the events of the past week and what I could have done better, but on the Ardmori situation as a whole. I came to the conclusion our entire way of life and our entire philosophy was flawed. My mind these past many years had been focused on what we needed to do to bring the Ardmori back to their former glory, and not what rot afflicted us to lead us there in the first place. 

After much thought, I have my conclusion and my mind made up. I'd just finished up another meeting with the executive committee. They agreed changes had to be made. They heard me out. Our argument lasted 18 hours, and our vote was the most contentious vote I think we've ever had. I abstained. 4 to 3, in favor.

It'll probably go down in the history books as 'execution 3313'. It wasn't announced to the public yet, but as of now, I was dictator for life of our new nation. My power... was unchallenged, however, I knew I had the best of intentions at heart for my people. I knew I had the will to see them through, and I had my 7 advisors that would steer me right should I go wrong.

Our other decision was decisive action. War.  
The time had come. The Ardmori Kingdom would be forcefully dissolved, and in it's place, the New Ardmori State. So that's where I was now. Marching with my elite army towards uniting ourselves with our brethren of the Old Kingdom. Let the treacherous Gryphasia and the corrupt Sallosia tremble at our decisiveness and our might.

24 days later...

Once again I found myself marching up the steps of the Kingdoms' palace, though this time, the situation was much different. We saw clearly that the Old Kingdom was paralyzed for progress since we last came, and our army had grown significantly since. We of course still enlisted the Sylesian mercenaries as we did last time.

Their leader provided me some rather well needed company during the journey, and the battle. I'd say we'd grown quite close, but, I could tell this Sylesian was still very guarded.

As our final battle over the capital raged, we spoke, overlooking the battle from the hilltops.  
"So... Your first few weeks as dictator for life... How have they been?" Harykon asked. It took me a moment to properly sort out how I felt about it.  
"Stressful." Is what I said at first, before elaborating... "I often wonder if the decisions I'm making are the right ones, and well. This is the biggest question of all." Harykon paused for a minute to take it in.  
"Why is that?" He finally replied. "Why do you question yourself?" It admittedly took me far longer than I would have liked to think of an answer.

"I've had a lot of time to reflect on the events of our fall. 3 decades at war with an enemy we just barely had parity with, and year on year our leaders told the people that it would soon be over. They weren't telling lies, they were infected with ego. They thought so deeply they were making all the right decisions, the never once stopped to ask themselves if they actually were. They had not once reflected on themselves. Maybe if they had, they would have realized the path to ruination they set us on all those years ago."

Harykon took it in for a moment.  
"Yet here you are. Dictator for life. Unchallenged in power, and leading a war campaign declared just two days after both of the continental powers tried to snuff your nation out." I gave a sigh.  
"Yes, here I am. I wont deny, my actions were impulsive. These... invaders, pests; plagues even, on our continent, tried to squelch us and force us back down before we got back up. Well, that was the dodge. This, this is us leaping to our feet and delivering them the uppercut to the jaw they deserve."

Harykon chuckled at my analogy and my tone. It seemed he sensed some ego to my voice.  
"You sound very sure of yourself. What if their attacks were just a poke, and you're planning on reacting with a punch?" Harykon posed. A fair question that I had considered myself.  
"I feel as though it couldn't be. This war between Sallosia and Gryphasia mirrors that of the war between Sallosia and the Ardmori. That conflict, as with this one, engaged our entire society. We call it a Kizotamorizuti - a total war. Neither of them can spare a full army to come take us down, so Sallosia sent a raiding party, Gryphasia tried to annex us outright. I can't see any way of it being a poke." Harykon nodded, agreeing.

"But why is destroying the Old Kingdom by force the right way, then? Wouldn't it be better for all Ardmori to integrate it?" I knew this answer well.  
"No. This Kingdom represents the rot the Ardmori have been plagued with since... the beginning of time maybe. Rot is not something you cure, it's something you cut out and patch up the wound that remains so that it may heal properly. Our wounds from the calamity still have not healed. Integrating this Old Kingdom would inherit the rot. It would dilute it, but not destroy it. And secondly, what I've realized since the attack on Kasi Takri, is that like must be fought with like. We can't negotiate our way out of a war, we have to fight our way out of it. With all these violent neighbors who would destroy us in an instant if we let it, our society has to be built around service; defense of the Ardmori."

"It seems like you have things mostly figured out then." Harykon commented.  
"Yet the future is still unknown until we face it. Who knows, maybe some hundreds of years in the future, I'll go down as the great villain of my time. If that were true, the Ardmori ego would be as central to us as our wings." Harykon nodded once again, our conversation tapered off. Luckily, this was happening just as the battle for the capital was ending - the Kingdoms army was in route.

Harykon and I split up at this point, I joined up with my elite unit who had weathered the fighting well. We marched our way to the palace to secure it. This time, the king was captured. He wasn't executed, he wasn't blinded or castrated... He was simply stripped of his title and sent to Kasi Takri. He would find no support there...

Now, once again, I found myself standing on a balcony looking over a crowd, confused and frightened over the events of today. Change is always hard, my speech would only make that harder, unfortunately.

"My brothers, my sisters... My fellow Ardmori. The promised day of our return has arrived. The Old Ardmori Kingdom is no more. This dark age - this seemingly eternal rut - has been conquered. 

As of this moment as well, I invite the 5 city states of the plains who survived to join in this New Ardmori State. While your independence has been an inspiration, we are stronger together.

Infact that brings me to my next point - why?  
Why did we find ourselves here in the first place?  
I've identified two things that have caused it. The first, pacifism. Those of you who don't know, these Gryphasians, these Sallosians... They were not born in this land like we were, they came here from beyond the shores. We LET them take our land. And when Sallosia declared war on the Old Empire, it took us decades to build an army that could fight them properly. By the time it was up to full strength, it didn't matter. We were exhausted by decades of war, and we fell apart. 

No more. Our New Ardmori State is built upon the notion that defense of the nation - and infact defense of THE ARDMORI - is of paramount importance. Military service is compulsory, for lest we turn back to pacifism, Gryphasia and Sallosia will eat us alive and make sure not a single Ardmori remains on this earth. It is our duty, our collective duty, to defend the Ardmori.

And that circles nicely to my second point. Religion.  
Since time immemorial we've worshiped the Sky Mother and the Sky Father. The Sky Father is supposed to guide us, while the Sky Mother is supposed to protect us. Where did that happen during our fall? Had the Sky Mother been protecting us, we would not have suffered the calamity of Sallosia. Had the Sky Father been guiding us he would have shown us that pacifism would only lead us to ruination - yet they did nothing. Where were they during the war with Sallosia to show us the right way to overcome it? Where were they before it to warn us, and to guide us to our own defense?

We worship objects of complete fiction. It's said that the Sky Mother and the Sky Father broke through the sky and ascended to godhood - but why? What allowed them to do what so many thousands of Ardmori since the early ages have been unable to do?

Here's how I see them. We needed a way to explain the world, to teach our children the knowledge no one of us could possess alone - however, that turned to rampant obsession in the form of the Ardmori religion. Blind worship without understanding. We saw the figure, but not the message.

So its incumbent upon us to stop worshiping two long dead Ardmori and instead, worship the things that provide, the things that teach, the things that drive us as Ardmori... The Community, and The State.

Through community we will be strong together, we will teach each other and guide each other as those old scriptures tried to do - and the state will be the protector, and the manifestation of the will of the community. No more will we worship mystical figures - we will worship ones real and integral to our way of life. 

Finally, here I stand to see that through. This is one of many hurdles that Ardmori face on our path back to greatness. We have many more to come. My life's goal is to act as the founder of our new way of life, and to ensure we will always be on the right path - for as long as I live.

Just before this campaign began, the Executive Council of Kasi Takri voted me in as Executor for Life. I will guide this new nation, I will set up the precepts for its rule after I'm gone, and I will lead its armies to victory against our immortal enemies on OUR continent. 

Let this, people of the Kingdom, be the start of a new golden age. With me, you, the people of Kasi Takri and The Five Who Survived; we will reclaim our birthright. From the Ashes of our destruction, we are born anew.”

Chapter 8: The Clouds Have Lifted, The Sun Shines, a New Day Begins.

Kasi Takri – Heartland of New Ardmori  
Seventh Kitatu – Year 5.

5 long years since our conquest of the Old Kingdom. So much has changed. In the days after our conquest of the Old Kingdom, The Five Who Survived all voted unification with us. Working in partnership will all the cities and towns that made up this new society, we voted on a new name for our country. Kasi Ardmori - New Ardmori. This in and of itself was a tacit implication of acceptance of our new way of life as well, stateism and our community.

Our zone of control doubled in a week. This scared Gryphasia so much that they sent half an army to our new border and attempted to cross it – this was thwarted only by the strength of our own army, and a negotiation to continue food exports as we previously had been. What I didn’t know and still can’t tell is whether this put us on cordial terms, or if we’re enemies with a thin veil of mutual non-aggression.

In those five long years, we extended our zone of control south and even further west. We firmly control the Kin river all the way to the fighting front of Sallosia and Gryphasia, where their control is as tenuous as the armies fighting there. We now have a few towns on the coastline of that huge new sea in the far west as well.

The unsustainably large population of the Old Kingdom has finally bled out into the countryside and the new towns we’ve made. The level of happiness, and the birthrate has never been higher. Our recruitment rate has exploded – though our army size is absolutely dwarfed by that of Gryphasia and Sallosia, we’re making great strides towards parity, and our technology unquestionably dwarfs theirs. Matching us in quality and parity would be impossible for them now, so embroiled in endless war as they are.

I’ve worked tirelessly on the new precepts for our nation after I’m gone. As I said during my speech after the conquest of the Old Kingdom, the will of the community will drive our nation, and so voting will be an essential part of our new nation. From the smallest village to the national government, everyone will have a say in each part of the collective Ardmori will.

Harykon the Sylesian’s contract eventually expired and he departed for home, our army was of fine size even without him at this point. His service was exemplary, and he was a good friend. I should write to him occasionally…

What challenges lie ahead of us?  
Well.  
The further south we plunge, the more wrath of Sallosia we incur. This is fine, our blades find theirs lacking, but the repeated raids will consume resources we could use elsewhere. We work tirelessly on fortifying that border.

The Tribalist Ardmori have been integrated as well – that long existent thorn in the side of all the Ardmori Empires hasn’t been crushed, it’s been harnessed. They will take a long time to become integrated fully into our society, but for now they make up several communities in a ring around the northern mountains that are as militaristic as they come. Perfect for us.

Contact with the countries of the east is tough. Our land lies far away from that of the old land, our sea connections aren’t what they used to be. Tensions are rising beyond our shores as well. Though we’re more focused here at home, we do pay attention to see what events could affect us at our shores.

Rooting out the Ardmori religion has been difficult. We try to encourage abandoning it where we can, but, some Ardmori are stubborn in their ways. We have firmly decided NOT to prosecute those who worship it. They must decide for themselves which path is the right one, we can’t force it.

Finally, our biggest challenge looms on the horizon in the distance. Some years away, yes, but the conflict will be biblical. The inevitable war between Kasi Ardmori, and it’s two despicable neighbors: Gryphasia, and Sallosia. The battle, no matter when we choose to start it, will be titanic in scale. It will require effort from each and every Ardmori, without a doubt. 

The deeper I look the more I realize the scale of this conflict as well. Gryphasia, also known as The Gryphon Kingdom of the West, is the country-spawn of Gryphosia, also known as The Gryphon Kingdom of the East. Though they are two independent countries now, their blood ties run deep. Gryphosia sends a lot of material support to Gryphasia.

Sallosia, or as it should rather be called, Kevar-Sallosia; isn’t so much a country as it is an administrative area of the Sallosian mainland. It is well and truly run by a mad god, it receives an incredible amount of support from the mainland. The full extent of how much power it can wield, I don’t know. But, if the first great war between the now Old Ardmori Empire and Sallosia is anything to go by, it can be destroyed and pushed off.

Though optimistic about our future, I am cautious. The historians quickly proclaiming the end of the Sixth Kitatu has really brought a light to the hearts of all Ardmori; but we need to be very careful it doesn’t lead to a return of egotism. Looking back as well, It shocks me how close the Ardmori as a species were to extinction. Our population was large, sure, but so concentrated and so carefully balanced on the precipice, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to destroy us entirely.

Despite that I wonder if we’re any closer or further away from extinction now. Sure, our population is rebounding stunningly… but we’re also a bigger and more dangerous target now that we’ve made it our collective goal to return to greatness. If a country like Sallosia triumphed over Gryphasia, we’d surely be crushed and our species entirely destroyed.

But I don’t think we will be. I think that I’ve breathed life back into the Ardmori, and clearly the historians agree as well.  
With the dawn of Seventh Kitatu… Not only will this be a time of our rebirth, but the time of vengeance as well. Maybe, the end of the Sixth Kitatu will be known as Datuki’s Vengeance – no – Ardmori Vengeance. By the time I die I hope to be able to proclaim the Ardmori triumphant. Our road is long still, but we’re picking up speed towards our destination.

Glory and victory to the Ardmori, now, and forever.


End file.
